


i won't burst into flames (but my life will be fucked).

by sondersoflight



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: M/M, maybe having sex with your co-sensei is not the best plan johnny, pinning basically, talking like grown ups after months of sadness and yearning, then again maybe it is, unbeated we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28635339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sondersoflight/pseuds/sondersoflight
Summary: “You are paranoid LaRusso.” He says instead. “Reading all of the crap that goes on your food will do that to you.”“The nutritional values are there for a reason Johnny.”“Yes, to drive you fucking crazy. Who the fuck care how much sodium a bag of chips has?”
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 9
Kudos: 236





	i won't burst into flames (but my life will be fucked).

**Author's Note:**

> this is a three times fic? so, three different times they had sex and how it turned out i guess. i started writing this thinking of something and ended it thinking of something entirely different. so i don't think it makes a lot of sense. also it's unbeated so sorry about all mistakes and such! english is not my first language. anyway, title is a quote from fleabag: "And if I fall in love with you I won’t burst into flames, but my life will be fucked." which is basically's johnnys life around daniel except he is already in love and his life is a disaster. but anyway.

**The first time**

It occurs to Johnny that he might be a bit fucked.

He’s lying on one of the brand new bright red mats they put on. The material is sticking to his sweaty back and hair and the heat coming off of LaRusso’s body besides him only adds to his agitation.

It is kind of fucked up they had sex in the dojo where they also teaches kids. But Johnny can’t deny that there is something about fight that does get him going. Still, they are acting like teenagers.

 ** _You_** _act like you are one of them._ A voice that sounds suspiciously like LaRusso bounces around his head.

And that is exactly the problem. LaRusso has in some way gotten under his skin and inside his head. If he were a more mature person, he’d probably admit that he had managed that back when he was a skinny kid with too much mouth for his muscle, but he isn’t so he does not.

It’s not the same though.

He doesn’t know how they ended up in this place, but ever since LaRusso separated ( _Sam said they are taking a break._ Miguel had said _)_ he had been angrier than usual. Constantly looking for a fight and Johnny was decided to not give it to him.

At least at first he had been.

This had been the fifth time since Monday that LaRusso had stormed into their dojo, acting all high and mighty and bringing out that annoying as fuck Jersey accent that he could not control when he was angry – and Johnny had had enough.

He’d thought pushing LaRusso around a bit might solve the issue – the problem was that pushing him around had opened a whole different can of worms. One that Johnny could admit of having considered at some point – he had however blamed it on his teenaged hormones back then.

The sex had been fun fun – it was the most fun Johnny had in a while. Everything seemed to be a competition between them at first. It was clear that LaRusso had an unnatural amount of energy for someone his age, and apparently when he was not making his mouth spit out 150 words per minute, he channeled it into much better use.

However, Johnny did not fail to notice he was beginning to step over the invisible boundaries he had decided to set back when he had first started fantasizing about his hands down LaRusso’s pants.

It was very clear to him that LaRusso was going through some sort of middle age crisis, his wife had kicked him out to give him a good scare and he had taken the time to experiment or whatever. Johnny was ok with that, they were both consenting adults after all, but he was certain at some point Amanda would take Daniel back and all this part of his life would be forgotten.

Johnny would drift back to the background of LaRusso’s perfect life and that would be it.

Generally, Johnny was pretty bad at taking care of himself, but he was trying to be better. He had promised Robby and himself. He could not afford to go on a bender when he was supposed to help his child break free from a sociopath.

He needed to take a step back. Acting like they were two teenagers discovering what sex was, was stupid to put it lightly. He needed to be a grown up for once in his life and…

“John, are you even listening to me?” Daniel says - voice sounding raspy and out of breath. 

“I was thinking.” Johnny offers. “What was that?”

Daniel huffs but a second later he opens his mouth to start over anyway.

“Nothin’” Daniel mutters but as if he is not able to help himself, he starts talking again a second later “I’m starvin’. Do you want to get something to eat?”

Johnny archs an eyebrow. Daniel is just going on about this as if it's something that happens everyday, like _Yes Johnny, drop your pants and then let's eat something._

“There is a new burger place around here that Sam has been yapping about and -.” Daniel continues, unaware.

“What?” Johnny says, again trying to point out how not - usual their current predicament is. He feels like having his dick out warrants at least a little more attention. 

“A burger, Johnny.” Daniel says back. “I need to eat something.”

“Sure,” Johnny answers way too quickly. It's fine. If Daniel wants to act like nothing happened - like this is just a fluke. Johnny can do that. He is an adult. He can totally handle whatever LaRusso throws at him. 

He must be quiet for a bit longer than deemed socially acceptable because a second later Daniel says “Did you hit your head when I pushed you onto the floor?”

Slowly Daniel pushes himself back up. When he comes fully into Johnny’s view, he can see his hair pushing up in two different directions and his huge confused deer-in-the-headlights eyes. Johnny is sure his heart pressed against his ribcage.

“You wish you had the muscle, LaRusso.”

Daniel smiles. “You know damn well muscle isn’t everything.” He pauses for a moment. “But I need food before you fail to fight me again.”

Johnny takes a deep breath and tries to get his heartbeat under control.

**The tenth time**

Everything is going terribly.

Well – maybe Johnny was inclined to be dramatic. But the last week had sucked. He’s been trying to avoid Daniel as much as possible – which didn’t turn out to be that hard since he caught a damn flu.

He’d been sick all week, and the first day he had felt slightly better, Miguel had run into him.

Johnny was also trying to avoid Miguel because the kid had fully grasped the power of his ‘ _I-almost-died_ ’ speech of manipulation and Johnny fell for it every time.

That is how he found himself on a Thursday night, parked outside the cinema watching as Miguel met up with LaRusso Jr.

Johnny was considering getting a hot dog and taking a nap in his car until whatever dumb flick Miguel was dragged to is over when he is startled by a tapping on his car window.

“Goddamn it LaRusso.” Johnny muttered while rolling down his window. “What the fuck do you think you are doing? You almost gave me a heart attack.”

But LaRusso was already on the passenger side, pulling the door open and sliding onto the seat next to Johnny.

The cold slipped into the car with the quick movement of the door. The fist thing he sees is LaRusso’s scarf spilling out of his jacket and his cheeks look red to match.

“I’m freezing my ass off.” LaRusso said, chattering teeth and all. “I was dropping off Sam here and I saw your car. I haven't seen you in like a week and a half.”

The hidden edge to the comment was not lost on Johnny.

“I’ve been busy LaRusso.” Was all Johnny offered after a minute. He _did not_ find the way LaRusso scrunched his nose cute. “And I was sick.”

Daniel doesn’t say anything for a couple of minutes which is worrying, and it probably means he is thinking out something way fucking annoying to say.

“Have you tried talking to Robby?” He finally says – and his voice catches.

And Johnny doesn’t mean to – he knows the comment is probably not coming from a bad place. Daniel feels guilty and he feels worried. But all Johnny can hear for a second is _Guess he has too much of you in him._

He leans back trying to hold back the surge of hot white anger he feels coming. Is just so typical LaRusso to sweep in and start trying to put his life together or expect Johnny to offer up some explanation, like he is going to blurt out he is stressed and fucking tired and his body hurts all over and he is fucking nervous all the time thinking about how he let his son fall in the hands of a sociopath.

“You are fucking unbelievable.” Johnny says, “No, I have not talked to Robby.”

“Well, forgive me for fucking asking.” LaRusso says, and he leans forward into the light spilling inside the car from the street, Johnny can make out his big fucking doe eyes and all.

"We don't need to do this." Johnny says. "You don't need to worry about me or whatever - I'm sure thing in regards of you getting laid LaRusso."

He thinks that is what he would want to hear. And he must be right because a second later LaRusso grabs him by the lapels of his leather jacket and kisses him.

The car is parked in the middle of the street where anyone can see but Johnny doesn’t stop him. He leans forward, holding Daniel’s neck and biting into his mouth. Daniel leans even closer and squeezes Johnny through his pants, and Johnny bites down on Daniel’s bottom lip.

They jump apart when they hear a familiar voice outside. A second later, someone knocks against the glass of the driver’s side.

There is no way Hawk won’t know, Johnny thinks. Daniel’s lips are red and swollen and his hair is a mess, his pupils are blown, and he is discretely trying to adjust himself before opening the door. He must look like a mess too.

Still he rolls down the window. The glass is tarnished but when it comes down Hawk is leaning over, trying to make out what is going inside the car. Demetri is standing a few steps back looking confused.

“Sensei? Is everything okay?” he asks looking between them as if he is trying to make out what is going on exactly.

“Um,” LaRusso says, his voice shaky. “Yes, I was just…” Daniel doesn’t take his eyes off Johnny while he speaks, and it makes him want to scream. Hawk is going to realize any second now. “I think Sam and Miguel are waiting for you and Demetri inside.”

“Oh,” he says but she still looks distrustful. “Were you guys fighting? Don't you think the inside of a car is sort of a reduced space?”

He looks pointedly at both of them.

“We are fine.” Johnny finally speaks, “You should go inside before you freeze your ass off – “

“Just go.” Daniel says.

Hawk steps back and shows both of his hands mimicking surrender. When they start walking away towards the cinema both Johnny and Daniel hear Demetri’s voice talking to his friend.

“You know I didn’t believe a word of that, right?”

“Good to know you still have two working brain cells.” Hawk answers snickering.

Daniel leans back onto his headrest and covers his eyes with his hand. Johnny thinks he is having a mental breakdown but a second later he realizes he is laughing.

“You know the movie is about two hours long.” Johnny says. “My place is nearby. We could go and work out our little disagreement.”

“Johnny Lawrence,” Daniel says in some dumb southern tone he tries to imitate. “Are you inviting me over for _what_ exactly?”

Johnny does tell him to fuck off _but_ he also starts the car.

**The twentieth time**

Getting Robby out of the clutches of his sociopathic ex- teacher was a difficult. Johnny was mature enough to admit that Daniel had helped a lot, maybe out of the responsibility he still felt towards how everything had gone down.

Re-establishing his relationship with his son had been even harder. Robby felt guilty and confused – some days all he did was apologize and other times it seemed like he was so angry about what had happened he was ready to burst.

Johnny was aware that he was not innocent, and he had his hand on whatever trauma his child would be carrying for the rest of his life. And most days he was not even sure on how to help him.

But he tries and makes an effort. And it seems to be working because a Wednesday night Robby tells him he is going to meet with Sam at the ice-cream shop down the street and try to talk things over with her. Johnny knows how difficult it is to apologize – how the words always seem to get stuck right between his throat and his tongue. Robby is better than him at that.

A few minutes after he leaves – Daniel is knocking at his door.

“If I didn’t know better,” Johnny says as he pulls the heavy wooden door open. “I’d say you are kind of obsessed with me LaRusso.”

Daniel rolls his eyes and pushes into the apartment.

“What crawled up your ass and died?” Johnny says and he bites his tongue to prevent himself from making a crasser joke.

“Nothin’” Daniel said and he let himself fall onto the couch.

Johnny is about to ask if Daniel just came to his house to fall asleep in his couch, which would be rude but he stops himself. He used to think he knew LaRusso pretty well back when they were in high school.

Now he has found out _knowing_ him is something else. Something that takes a serious

It’s like Daniel is so tightly wound, he constantly tries to hide everything about him that might make him human. Johnny has his suspicions on why he does it but he would never voice them out loud. And every time he feels like he is moving forward, like he is closer to finding who Daniel really is, he goes two steps back.

It’s the constant sensation as if he were walking upstairs in the dark thinking there is one more step and then his feet fall through the air, that moment of surprise.

But what he knows, well he can’t stop himself.

Daniel is sensitive, that much is obvious. He likes to read, he loves his family. He is torn up over his divorce. He doesn’t like sitting with his back to the door, he never leans too much on his left leg. He remembers the first time he noticed Daniel, really truly noticed him – back in a time that seemed from a thousand years ago. He was dressed with enough ordinary clothing to make everyone think there was no thought behind it, but Johnny noticed, how carefully it was put together.

Daniel cares about some things, it’s what Johnny has noticed. He also gets very scared by the same things.

He is the opposite of Johnny, who presents his life as if he’s an open wound, all visible and bleeding all over everyone, and in a way he is.

These are all little things he has noticed, things he has recollected from watching out of the corner of his eye or from their brief time together, hoping they’d mean something, someday.

The silence isn’t uncomfortable, but Johnny has never been a fan of it. So he turns on the radio.

The moment a song starts playing, Daniel snorts.

“What?” Johnny says teasingly. “This is a classic.”

“If that’s what you are into,” Daniel says but he starts humming the song under his breath.

The song ends after a minute or two.

“I know you know something is up,” Daniel finally speaks, tense. “But thank you, for not pushing it.”

Johnny nods.

“Kreese appears to have brought an old friend into town.”

And after that – the dam breaks. Johnny is pretty sure Daniel is having some sort of panic attack, going on and on about Terry Silver and Kreese and pointing out the small almost invisible scars that are littered all over his knuckles.

Daniel seems like he cannot stop talking – like he has been pushing all of this so deep down and now he needs to lay it all out for the one person that might sort of understand what he has been through.

“You don’t have to do this,” Johnny offers – his voice catches when he says it. “You don’t have to say all of this.”

Daniel stops for a second and when he looks at Johnny again he looks thankful.

“I know I don’t have to,” He says and it is one of those times when Daniel looks so painfully young – Johnny feels like he is back in 1984 on the beach with Bobby yelling _Stop Johnny, he’s had enough._ “I want to say it. I want to tell you.”

Johnny has to bite his tongue to stop all of the things he wants to say from spilling out. Stupid things like ‘ _I think I feel something_.’ That wouldn’t do either of them any good. But then Daniel says –

“Do you understand what I’m saying John? I want you to know.” Daniel says and is like he is so carefully picking out the words he is saying. “What I’m trying to say is –“

He is no good with words. In fact he can’t even remember a time in his life where he didn’t open his mouth and ruin everything. And LaRusso isn’t much better. In a moment of panic he leans and kisses Daniel.

Daniel climbs over, locking Johnny against the couch between his legs and pressing him down with his body. He can feel the smile against his mouth when he kisses him. It’s gentle and soft and for a moment he forgets about almost everything and all he thinks about is the heat of Daniel’s body so close to his.

They kiss for minutes or hours, slow and with no intent of violence behind it as it has usually been between them. Daniel’s hands frame his face and Johnny pushes his hips up, looking for friction, for Daniel to do anything at all. Daniel moves his lips down Johnny’s jaw and keeps going down in a line of kisses.

“You are so…” Daniel whispers.

“Irritating?” Johnny offers after a minute.

It feels wrong, how intimate and soft LaRusso looks smiling down at him, the light creating a sort of halo around his face. His stupid hair is all messed up and his lips are red and swollen, his pupils are blown. Johnny’s heart does a weird backflip and the alarms start going off in his head again.

“I need to go –“ Johnny says without thinking.

“Go where?” Daniel asks sounding amused. “This is your house.”

“The –“ Johnny tries to think quickly but all he can concentrate on is how Daniel is still sitting on top of him looking strangely smug, as if he already knows. “…bathroom?”

Daniel doesn’t budge.

“Why are you always running away from me?”

 _Because I’m scared shitless._ Johnny wants to say.

“You are paranoid LaRusso.” He says instead. “Reading all of the crap that goes on your food will do that to you.”

“The nutritional values are there for a reason Johnny.”

“Yes, to drive you fucking crazy. Who the fuck care how much sodium a bag of chips has?”

“It has a lot.” Daniel tsks. “You should stop eating them so much.”

“You keep eating your organic crap and looking like death and I’ll keep eating over processed real food and be totally healthy.” Johnny sticks his tongue out like a child.

“Stop distracting me.” Daniel says suddenly. “I was trying to tell you that I –“ Daniel pauses for a second. “I have feelings for you John.”

And then Daniel looks up – the same way he has looked at Johnny so many times before. Challenging him after exposing himself, as if somehow he still has the upper hand. And he does, he always did.

“You don’t mean that.” Johnny says but it comes out as a whisper. He hates how insecure he sounds. “You are confused LaRusso – you are just happy you are getting laid but you need to go back to your wife and –“

 _Strike hard._ A voice that sounds eerily familiar chants in his head. A voice that always comes from the place he goes to when he feels vulnerable, like is something dirty he needs to shield himself from. _Strike first._

“John,” Daniel’s soft voice breaks through the buzzing in his ears. “Stop it. Look at me.” He says and he holds Johnny’s face between his hands once more. He looks calm but Johnny can feel the pressure of his legs holding him in place.

“I do mean that.” Daniel says after a minute. His eyes look so sincere – it’s unfair. “I don’t have a wife anymore. I have an ex-wife. And I’m not jerking you around Johnny. I want to be with you.”

Johnny feels all the things he wants to say bubbling up his throat and he isn’t sure what is going to come up once he opens his mouth. Maybe he’ll throw up. He sincerely hopes he does not throw up.

“You better mean that,” Is what comes out instead. “You better mean it if you are going to say it.”

Daniel laughs, really really laughs throwing his head back and everything. His eyes crinkle in that way he does when he is genuinely happy.

“Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything more _you_ than you threatening me when I’m about to tell you that I love you.”

“Yeah, I can still kick your ass LaRusso.” Johnny mutters with no heat against Daniel’s smiling lips. “Don’t you forget it.”

"We'll see about that." is all Daniel says as he pulls him down onto the floor.


End file.
